A motor is a device which converts an electric energy into a mechanical energy, and is widely used for a general-purpose apparatus such as a washing machine, an electric fan, an AV equipment, an automobile electrical component, and an elevator. In respective types of motors, a permanent magnet type synchronous motor has excellent output characteristics. On the permanent magnet type synchronous motor, a ferrite magnet or a rare-earth magnet is mainly mounted. The rare-earth magnet such as a Sm—Co based magnet or a Nd—Fe—B based magnet is known as a high-performance permanent magnet, and exhibits a magnetic force higher than that of the ferrite magnet, so that a miniaturization and a high output power of the motor can be realized.
The rare-earth magnet contains an expensive rare-earth element as an essential component, so that an application of the magnet to the general-purpose apparatus is not in progress. The ferrite magnet is inexpensive, but is inferior regarding a magnet performance, so that an increase in size of the motor and the like, for example, cannot be avoided. From such a point, there is demanded a permanent magnet which exhibits a magnetic force exceeding that of the existing ferrite magnet without using the rare-earth element. As a magnetic material using no rare-earth element, various iron-based compounds are known. As one of such iron-based compounds, an Fe2B compound can be cited. A conventional Fe2B compound is used as a soft magnetic material, and does not achieve properties as a hard magnetic material to be a composing material of the permanent magnet.